A group of 14 former international cricket captains, including Australian legends Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Greg Chappell, as well as India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, have appealed to the Pakistani government to treat jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan with “decency and justice”.
The open letter, also signed by England’s Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, David Gower and Mike Brearley, along with former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, New Zealand’s John Wright, and Australia’s Belinda Clark and Kim Hughes, raises serious concerns over Khan’s health and conditions in prison.
Khan, 73, who captained Pakistan to its 1992 World Cup victory before serving as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, has been held at Rawalpindi’s Adiala prison since August 2023 following multiple corruption convictions.
Reports of deteriorating eyesight—allegedly leaving him with just 15% vision in his right eye—restricted family visits and poor living conditions have prompted the international cricketing community to step in.
“Recent reports concerning his health, particularly the alarming deterioration of his vision while in custody, and the conditions of his imprisonment over the past two and a half years, have caused us profound concern,” the letter reads.
“As fellow cricketers who understand the values of fair play and respect that transcend the boundary rope, we believe a person of Imran Khan’s stature deserves dignity and basic human consideration.”
The former captains urged Pakistani authorities to provide Khan with ongoing medical care from qualified specialists, humane detention in line with international standards, and transparent access to legal processes.
Gavaskar, who has known Khan since his early cricketing days in England, described the treatment of the former leader as “terrible” and emphasised that friendship and respect go beyond sporting rivalries.
Khan’s family has expressed distrust in the government’s handling of his medical care, rejecting claims from a government-appointed medical board that his eyesight had improved. His sister, Aleema Khan, criticised the authorities for denying the presence of his personal physician and family representatives during examinations.
Despite government assurances that medical treatment has been provided and progress noted, the PTI-led protests outside parliament continue, demanding access for Khan’s family and doctors and his transfer to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
Since his ouster through a no-confidence vote in 2022, Khan has faced mounting legal challenges and accusations he claims were politically motivated. In 2024, a UN working group on arbitrary detention concluded that his imprisonment “had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running [for] political office.”
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